Nerd = Hyperwhite?

Check out this article from The New York Times which reports research into the meaning of "nerd" and "nerdiness." The author, a linguistics prof at UC Santa Barbara, concludes that the essence of being a nerd is rejecting the usual borrowings from black youth culture that characterize those white youth considered cool. According to the article, this has some interesting implications:

the code of conspicuous intellectualism in the nerd cliques Bucholtz observed may shut out “black students who choose not to openly display their abilities.” This is especially disturbing at a time when African-American students can be stigmatized by other African-American students if they’re too obviously diligent about school. Even more problematic, “Nerds’ dismissal of black cultural practices often led them to discount the possibility of friendship with black students,”